2010 MLB Draft: Top 30 College First Base Prospects

30. College of Southern Nevada SO 1B Trent Cook

29. Delaware SR 1B Ryan Cuneo

28. Central Florida JR 1B Jonathan Griffin

27. Long Beach State SO 1B Joey Terdoslavich

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Terdoslavich was once a pretty exciting prospect, but his transfer to Long Beach has taken his name out of the big-time college spotlight. His power remains, but the 2010 drop in plate discipline is worrying. In his favor, however, is the positional versatility so many of these first base prospects will need if they want big league bench jobs someday. Griffin is a gigantic human being with exactly the raw power you’d expect his frame to deliver, but is hurt as a prospect because he offers little else beyond that one above-average tool. Cuneo has good gap power and a solid glove, but profiles best as an organizational player than even a potential big league bench bat at this point. Trent Cook has seen his draft stock jump up a bit this spring, due in large part to the exposure his famous teammate with the initials BH has given the CSN program this spring…yes, the scouts are all flocking to Vegas to see that Bryan Harper fella.

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26. Rice SR 1B Jimmy Comerota

25. Arizona State SR 1B Kole Calhoun

24. Middle Tennessee State SR 1B Blake McDade

23. Oklahoma State JR 1B Dean Green

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Comerota and Calhoun both look like better versions of Ryan Cuneo to me – gap power, good glove, good athleticism, good batting eye…but not enough raw power to ever project as starting caliber players. McDade gets consistently overshadowed by teammate Bryce Brentz, but his approach is professional quality. Dean Green has a pretty well-rounded skillset and his strong showing on the Cape last summer gives him the extra bounce up the rankings here.

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22. South Carolina SR 1B Nick Ebert

21. Mississippi JR 1B Matt Smith

20. Tennessee JR 1B Cody Hawn

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Trio of SEC sluggers who could all hit their way to the big leagues if they get a few breaks along the way. Hawn is a really darn good natural hitter, but the lack of physical projection and any above-average tool besides the bat holds his prospect stock down. Smith’s power and approach are both intriguing while Ebert, the senior, has really impressed with the way he has worked at his game, improving from an organizational player all the way in his junior year to a legit mid- to late-round draft here in 2010.

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19. Chipola JC SO 1B Cody Martin

18. Carson-Newman SR 1B Jeff Lockwood

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Martin is another candidate for most underrated player on this list. He’s a really good athlete, potential plus defender, and has shown well above-average power in the past. Lockwood does a lot of the same things as Martin, but does them all just a smidge better at this point.

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17. Cal State Northridge JR 1B Dominic D’Anna

16. Hawaii SR 1B Kevin Macdonald

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Really like D’Anna’s swing, from setup to finish. Macdonald can get a little long with his swing, but offers more long-term power than D’Anna. D’Anna is a better bet to start for a big league club someday, but is a real long shot to ever realize that upside. Macdonald is less likely to ever start for a big league team, but more likely to contribute as a bench bat somewhere down the line someday. That’s why Macdonald gets the slight nod in the rankings. That logic isn’t foolproof, but it’s all I’ve got.

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15. Hillsborough JC FR 1B Jamie Mallard

14. Lake Sumter CC FR 1B Bryan Hill

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Mallard is the biggest boom/bust prospect on this list. If he booms, it’ll be because of the tremendous thunder in his bat; his power rivals that of any college player in the 2010 class. If he busts, it’ll be because he eats his way right out of the game. Hill’s upside should probably jump him up this list because he has as good a shot as almost any player ranked higher to actually land a starting big league job someday.

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13. Mt. Hood CC SO 1B Taylor Ard

12. Boston College JR 1B Mickey Wiswall

11. Washington JR 1B Troy Scott

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Scott, Wiswall, and Ard make up my personal list of three biggest first base disappointments in 2010. Ard gets a mulligan because of a bum wrist, but his injured hamate bone is a definite concern for a player who came into the year hoping his plus raw power would get him into the top five rounds. Scott actually had the top spot in one of my many unpublished preseason college first base prospect lists, but his 2010 has been a disaster (where’s the power?) anyway you look at it. Wiswall was a favorite in the scouting community coming into this season, but has always been too much of a grip and rip guess hitting hacker for my tastes. At this point in the rankings we’re talking mostly about bench bats, so a grip and rip guess hitting hacker with above-average power potential and intriguing positional versatility (he could be a four corners guy in the pros) isn’t such a bad thing…

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10. Alabama SR 1B Clay Jones

9. Louisiana State SR 1B Blake Dean

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Jones has been a success in high school, community college, wood bat summer leagues, and in the SEC. Blake Dean profiles similarly, as both SEC seniors are professional bats that come up a bit short as starters but should fit in nicely as big league bench weapons.

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8. Georgia Tech SR 1B Tony Plagman

7. Texas Christian SR 1B Matt Curry

6. East Carolina SR 1B Kyle Roller

5. Tennessee Tech JR 1B AJ Kirby-Jones

4. Mississippi State SR 1B Connor Powers

3. Louisville SR 1B Andrew Clark

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Clark is a hitter with a clue. If there is a pitch in your happy zone, swing hard and watch it fly. If the pitcher won’t give in, don’t get yourself out by swinging at junk. Clark does those two things as well as any hitter in all of college baseball. I’m very impressed with the improvements that Connor Powers has made to his game between his junior and senior seasons – he came into the year as a hacker who was limited to first base defensively, but will graduate as a more disciplined bat and an above-average glove at first. If Michael Choice played first base, he’d be Kirby-Jones. That’s a pretty nice compliment for the Tennessee Tech junior. Roller and Curry are both professional hitters with power, but neither prospect offers much beyond what they can deliver in the batter’s box. Plagman is similar to Powers in that he did a tremendous job patching up the holes in his game (namely the holes in his bat) by taking a more patient, measured approach to hitting this spring.

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2. Auburn JR 1B Hunter Morris

1. Arkansas JR 1B Andy Wilkins

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Wilkins and Morris are the two most likely early round first base prospects to actually play the position regularly in the big leagues someday. More on these two to come…

7 Comments

Seriously, thanks. I was stuck on 29 for the longest time and I’m incredibly OCD about big beautiful round numbers for these lists, so I got myself all twisted up what with Mallard being drafted by the Angels in back to back years. Bad, bad mistake. Thanks again for spotting it.

I’ll edit the big beautiful round Mallard out shortly, but, in the meantime, anybody have any ideas for a 30th player for this list? The only rule is the player has to profile at first base and, for the most part anyway, first base only professionally. That’s why certain quality players (like the kid from Rutgers I like more as an OF) were omitted. Probably should have explained that part of the ranking in the original post, come to think of it.

Agreed. This one was a definite miss on my part. I realized it soon after the fact, then Mike reminded me in the comments (thanks, by the way), and then I promptly forget to ever go in and edit him onto the list. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably slot him in at number 15; still lower than I bet most would have him, but a decent ranking all the same.